


Transformers: Rewritten

by CelticRae



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Other, Self-Insert, Slow Burn, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-04-25 12:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14378829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticRae/pseuds/CelticRae
Summary: I wrote this to cope with the fact that I am a grown woman with a crush on a cartoon robot.  AU where my story follows the RID2015 plot(s), except instead of meeting Denny and Russell at a scrap yard, Team Bee meets my total self-insert OC and her kids (based on my irl kids) at an automotive salvage yard.  That and my OC has more common sense than Denny.





	1. Pilot

“Okay, so...a door, a fender, and a radiator tie, that’s $85.86 with tax,” the woman behind the counter looked up expectantly.

“Heh, come on Stel, ya’ can’t cut me a discount?”

“Sorry Joe, prices stand,” She smiled at him. “It’s policy.”

“Don’t you set the policy? “  the older man grumbled.

Stel’s smile slipped, “Jason set the policy, I can’t...”

“Sorry, he’s a good guy, fair...We all miss him.” Joe fished his wallet out, “Hey, listen, ya’ got a yellow camaro out there, looks like it’s in good condition. How much fer the whole thing.”

“Let me check...”  Stel tapped on the keyboard, squinting at the ancient computer monitor.  “I don’t see it listed here, that's strange...Tell you what, let me take a look at it, figure something and call you tomorrow.”

“Fair ‘nuff. It was out by that old army truck” .  Joe grinned. “An’ I’ll bring ya’ some meat from the deer what made this wreck.”   He scooped his parts up and headed out to the busted Ford parked in the dirt lot.

Stel waited until Joe had pulled away before locking the gate.  The wooden sign read ‘J&E Scrapyard U Wrench it!’  a second sign, crudely painted with "By appointment only' was attached under it.  J&E, Jason and Estella. Although really the scrapyard had been her husband’s project. Stel, né Estella, would rather focus on her restaurant, but with Jason gone the scrapyard was hers, at least until she could sell it.  Still guys, and some women, wanted their cheap parts, so Stel kept it open, sort of, until she could find a buyer.

She sighed, she didn’t know the yard as well as Jason did, but a Camaro in good shape she would have remembered. She would have never put a sports car with the trucks. After they married, Stel had worked to organize the yard by type, make, and model. She was the one entered all the cars in a database and took stock of what was sold. Jason...well he just wanted to play with cars and talk mechanics with the boys.

Stel picked her way back to the trucks. There it was, parked next to the rusty Cougar MRAP, a Camaro, shiney, brilliant yellow, and looking new.

“Hello, gorgeous.” She may not have been a gear-head like her late husband, but she still appreciated good styling. She ran her hand along the hood. “Where did you come from?”

“Mom! Mom?!” Her son Alex's voice rang across the yard.

“Over here,by the trucks.” She called back.  Her two kids sprinted into view, both were dirty and covered in scratched.

“Mom guess what!” Sarah, the older one shouted excitedly.

“Good lord, kids, what happened?” Stel started forward, but Sarah pushed past running to the Camaro, whatever she originally wanted was forgotten.

“Wow! Where did this come from? Does it run? Can I have it when I turn 16?” the girl asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, and no” Stel looked back a forth between her kids.

“Aww.. Oh!” Sarah peeked behind the Cougar, “Nevermind, I want that one.”

Just behind the army vehicle sat a red Corvette, also shiney and  in new condition.

“What the heck!?” Stel walked, stunned, over to the car, “Where are these coming from?” 

“Maybe someone dropped them off?” Alex volunteered. “Or stolen! Like GTA!”

“I’ll check the security feeds, and we’ll figure this out.  Later.” Stel leaned on the Corvette. “Now, do you want to tell me why you look like forest hobos?” 

“We saw a dinosaur!” Alex shouted, jumping up and down.

“A dinosaur?” Stel said flatly, leveling a sceptical gaze at them.

“Really for real, out in the woods.” Alex jumped higher.

“Seriously, mom,” Sarah had managed to pull herself away from the sportscars. “It was, like, eating a car.”

“Should we call the cops? Or the news? Or...Or..” Alex had bounced himself breathless.

“I think...I think we need more evidence before we call the news.  I’ll tell you what, you show me where the ‘dinosaur’ is and I’ll snap a picture.  That way we have proof.” _I need to get out of here for a bit anyway_ she thought to herself. Talking about, heck, thinking about her Jason always made her feel the need to escape. The mystery cars could wait.  


_Why do people dump old cars out here? The scrapyard is right there._ Stel thought as they passed a rusted Bronco.  They weren’t that far in, maybe a ten minute walk from the yard.

There was a crash from further in the woods, then another, closer this time.  She froze, something big was moving toward them. Alex grabbed her hand, pulling her behind a fallen tree.  Stel watched, in mute horror, as the huge, black, metallic, dinosaur crashed into view, stopping in front of the car.  It swung its head from side to side before the massive jaws clenched around the roof and the sound of metal on metal screeching through the trees.

Stel clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

“See!” Alex said, shouting to be heard over the cacophony. Stel had just enough time to jerk him back behind the tree before the monster raised its head toward the noise. It stomped around, but gratefully never approached the tree. After a few moments, the terrible crunching sound began.  Stel peeked around the edge, the thing now had its back turned to them, focused on tearing about the hapless truck.

Stel motioned to her kids to be quiet and slowly backed away, keeping her eyes on the monster.  She ushered her kids what she deemed out of range before whispering “Go”

Almost immediately Stel tripped, crashing into the underbrush while her kids took off.  The monster snapped its head around and fixed it’s eyes them.

“Well, well. Looks like we got some natives…” The thing drawled.  

Stel sat motionless in shock as it lumbered forward.  Out of nowhere a large yellow blur slammed in to the side of the creature.  The monster didn’t budge and Stel watched, still frozen, as a giant robot picked itself up off the ground.

“Run” it yelled, placing itself in between her and the creature.

Stel sprinted through the forest, catching up to her kids.  She glanced back to see the monster throw the yellow one aside like rag doll. She stumbled as the monster started toward them.

“Mom!” Sarah grabbed her arm, pulling her back just in time. A red Corvette skidded to a stop just in front of them.

“Hey! I wouldn’ta’ hit ya’” A disembodied voice seemed to come from the car.

“It talks..”Alex gapped.

“Yeah,  So do you, get in.” The doors opened, revealing an empty interior.

Behind them,the ground shook as the monster charged toward them.

“Now or never” the car said.

“Get in.” Stel all but shoved her kids inside before climbing in after.  Seatbelts automatically snapped over them and the car took off, leaving a cloud of dust. Stel twisted around, watching as the monster burst through the trees and took off after them.

“He can’t catch me,” the dash lights flashed as the voice spoke.

“Night Rider!” said Alex, oblivious to any danger.

“No, Sideswipe.” The car replied.  It took a hard right, drifting around a corner and sending the family against the door and each other.  “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Okay...Okay...Sideswipe, that’s your name right?” Stel didn’t wait for a reply “ What was that?  What...What is going on? 

“That was Underbite. I guess he eats metal and gets stronger.”

“Crap. There’s a junkyard…” Stel started

“Yeah, I know.  We were there.” Sideswipe cut her off,  “You sat on me.”

“Sorry. But if he gets to the yard…We have to help…”

“Yeah, not happening.  My job is to get you to safety and I’m not risking my neck any more than I have to.”

“Then pull over, let me go back. We’re not that far....”

“Still not happening.”

“Sideswipe,”  Stel enunciated her words, softly but sharply, “Pull over and let me out.”

The car skidded to a halt and the door opened.  Stel climbed out. “Just get them out of here” she ordered before taking off at a dead run toward her home.

Sideswipe slammed the door, slightly dazed.  “How did she do that?” he wondered out loud.

“Mom voice” Alex said, watching his mother disappeared back towards danger.

 

Stel slumped against the wall surrounding the junkyard, gasping for breath.  Apparently not running for five years had a serious effect on endurance. Judging by the echoing sounds, the fight was still in the woods, but rapidly moving closer.  She unlocked the gate and darted into the office. Carefully organized keys hung under the counter, it only took a moment to find the one she was looking for.

_Just a bit farther,_ she urged herself, forcing aching legs to run through the yard, back to the trucks.  The Cougar squatted where she left it. How Jason got it she never asked, but she was thankful he did. And that it ran.  

The engine roared to life easily.  Stel fastened the five point harness, _This is stupid. This is stupid…_ somehow that mantra helped to calm her down.  The Cougar was slow but tough, it could survive a landmine she knew that much.  Hopefully it would survive this. Hopefully, She would come up with a better plan before the battle reached their home. 

No luck.  Stel had just pulled out of the gate when the monster, Underbite they called him, tore through the trees.  It was followed by a second monster, this one looking like big green and black T-Rex. The green one leapt at Underbite, slamming him sideways.  More robots burst from the trees, the yellow one that saved and the another blue one. The blue on aimed a gun-thing at Underbite, firing of a jolt of blue energy.  Underbite let out a roar, writing on the ground. The monster seemed subdued, until the blue energy fizzled out.

Underbite shook himself, lunging at the two robots.  The green one latched on, jerking larger dinosaur back, but it didn't stop it’s tale from slamming into the yellow bot, sending him flying. Stel shifted into gear and floored it. She reached them just as Underbite reared up, preparing to land on the blue bot, Stel jerked the wheel sideways, slamming the drivers side into Underbite’s legs, knocking them out from under him.  She gained control of the car, but his tail came down on the hood, flipping her end over end.

A brief moment of black and Stel came to, hanging upside down in the cougar.  As she struggled with the harness, the vehicle was gently flipped over.

“You okay in there?”

Stel clicked the harness off and opened the door, leaning out.  The yellow bot was crouched next to the Cougar.

“Mostly” She answered. “Did I get him?”  

“Not...really.  Listen, we need to find someplace to contain him.  Someplace with no metal”

“There’s a rock quarry, maybe two miles south.” Stel looked past the bot, Underbite had regained his feet and was preparing to charge them.  “Does he hold a grudge?.”

“Yeah, why…”

“Great keep him off me, I’ll lead him away.” Stel jumped back in the Cougar, wheeling it around.  The bot had just enough time to dodge out of the way as Underbite stormed past.

Cross country, the Cougar was even slower, but she managed to maintain her lead.  Stel stayed in the field until well past the junkyard. No point in leading this thing to temptation. She pulled onto the road, nearly hitting a yellow car that raced passed, pulling in front of her.  

_Is that the Camaro? No, don’t think...Don’t think about it. Focus on driving._  

The entrance to the quarry was coming up.  The Camaro blasted through the open gate, drifting neatly around the edge of the rock pit.  Stel started to follow, but was cut off by a red Corvette pulling through the side entrance.  She slammed on the breaks, nearly skidding over the edge. Before she could get moving again, Underbite grabbed the Cougar, lifting it up.  The sides crumpled as he started to crushed the armored vehicle. Stel wiggled out of the harness, struggling to the middle.

And the vehicle dropped, not far, but enough to rattle her. She could just hear metal rattling down a cliff over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, . Stel sat, slowing her breath and her racing heart. After a moment she tried the jammed door, It took a few kicks, but she managed to force it open.  

“Mom!”  

Stel slid out of vehicle, dropping to her knees. She unsure her legs would hold anyway.  Both kids caught her in tight hug.

“You are ready to lead, Bumblebee, do not doubt yourself.” Another bot, red and blue and larger than the others was addressing the yellow one.  The yellow bot, Bumblebee, started to answer, but stopped as the larger bot faded away.  


                                                        *                                   *                                   *

 

“So let me get this straight, you’re, like cops from another planet, you can change into cars and a prison ship full of...What did you call them?”

“Decepticons.”

“...Decepticons crashed in the woods, except the green guy, Grimlock, is on our side. So you need to catch the bad guys and you want to avoid being seen by other humans.”  Stel crossed her arms, looking up expectantly at Bumblebee.

“That pretty much sums it up." He looked at the ground, rubbing th back of his neck in a surprisingly human fashion.  "Are you certain you don’t mind us setting up our base here?”

“I can’t think of a better place.  We’re in the middle of nowhere, you have plenty of camo among the other cars, and I can warn you if I have any customers.”

"I suppose it would be ideal.."

"Great. Welcome to Earth, I guess. I need a drink..."  With that Stel marched into the house, leaving Bumblebee to stare after her.

"I've...been here before.." he muttered under his breath.


	2. Trust (Episode 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on the events of Episode Three: Trust Exercises. Stel is apprehensive about having the Transformers in her home, especially since she has a day job and will be leaving her kids.

If her alarm didn’t wake her, the noise outside would.  Loud footsteps and drag noises, and arguing. A lot of arguing. Somehow, overnight, Stel had managed to forget the giant robots setting up base in her salvage yard.  Jason would have been thrilled. 

She flicked aside the curtain, the little orange Minicon, Fix-it, zipped around connecting machinery and wires. Grimlock, the big green dinobot, stomped back and forth moving heavy machinery and rearranging her cars to make room.  She let the curtain drop and steeled herself.

A hot shower made her feel a little better.  The noise had died down, though not the argueing.  She peeked the window again out at Bumblebee breaking up a fight between Sideswipe and Strongarm. Stel sighed heavily, hopefully they could do their job and get out of her hair quickly.

In the living room, both kids were up, watching eagerly out the front window.

“I made coffee!” Sarah called, not bothering to turn around. Alex, at least turned around for a quick “Morning, mom!” before returning to his vigil.

Stel stood behind them watching the bustle of activity.She was reluctant to head to work. Normally, she had no reservations about leaving her kids, Sarah was 13 and Alex 10, both old enough to stay a few hours alone.  Today though...Stel ran though all the worst case scenarios as she filled her travel coffee cup.

“Okay, kids, look,  whatever these guys are after is super dangerous. Try to stay in the house.  But stay out of the salvage yard and stay out of their way.” She gave them a look “And don’t let your brother play video games all day.  I’ll be back after lunch.”

“Aww..” a mournful groan came from both kids. Clearly they had other plans in mind.

“I mean it.”  Stel stared, eyebrow cocked, until they sheepishly agreed.  Only after they promised, did she step out the front door.

“Whoa!” Stel twisted neatly around the minicon he zipped past, lifting her coffee out of the way.

“Coming boo...roo...er, through”  Fix-it stuttered, dragging a mess of wires past her.

_ What did I agree to,  _ she thought, setting her coffee on top of the old  station wagon while she fumbled with the key.

“You're...leaving?”  Bumblebee asked

“Yeah, I have to go to my actual job. This is just..” Stel waved at the salvage yard, not sure what  _ this  _ was exactly.  “A side hustle.”

Bumblebee glanced back at her house, where her two kids were still watching out the front window.  Stel followed his gaze.

“Don’t worry about them, they’re not your responsibility. We talked about staying out of your way.  They know the rules...And what will happen if they break them.”

She slipped into the driver's seat and started to back out.

“Wait” Bumblebee looked concerned.

Stel leaned out the window, trying not to let her frustration show, “What?” 

Bumblebee gestured to her roof. “Your drink.”

*                                *                                *

“This is boring” Alex whined.  The bots left, driving out to the woods leaving Fix-it fiddling with the stacks of computers.  “I’m gonna play XBox”

“Uh-huh” Sarah remained at the front window, waiting for something to happen.

A few hours later the bots returned.  Fix-it chirped excitedly, gesturing at the monitor setup beside their garage. In spite of her mother's warning, Sarah grabbed her book and headed outside. 

_ I’ll just sit on the steps _ she told herself  _ I only want some fresh air while I read. _

No sooner did she slip out the door, than Bumblebee approached her.  For a second Sarah worried she might be in trouble. She’d seen him talking to her mom before they left.

“Do you happen to have any boats here?” He asked.

“Dad’s old fishing boat is behind garage. It might hold you.” 

  
  


And then they were gone again. Bumblebee nad Grimlock in one direction with the boat, ( _ Good luck with that, I hope they can swim,  _ Sara thought) and Sideswipe and Strongarm in  the other.

 With a sigh, she settled on the front steps and opened her book. Alex was right, this wasn’t as fun as she imagined. Fix-it mostly ignored her, probably on her mom’s orders.  She’d been staring at the same page for a while, reading but not reading when garbled static-y message came over the com unit.

“Was that Strongarm?.” Sarah jumped up and ran over to Fix-it.  “She sounded like she was in trouble.”

“I believe that was a distress call.” the orange bot responded.

At that moment Sideswipe pulled in, alone.

“Is Strongarm back yet?” He asked

“Didn’t you leave together?” Sarah asked, skeptically.

“We split up.  To...cover...more ground.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes, “Does this have anything to do with the distress call?”

Sideswipe looked genuinely shocked.

“We received a distress call from Strongarm.  Then her com went dark and now I can’t track her” Fix-it explained.

“Scrap” Sideswipe crossed his arms, looking away.

“I’ll be sure notify Bumblebee right away…” Fix-it turned toward the com.

“I’ll handle it.” Sideswipe said quickly.

“I’m going too.” Sarah chirped,. “I can help, I know those woods better than anyone.”

“Didn’t you mom tell you stay out of the way?” Sideswipe cocked his head.

“Well, yeah, but if I’m helping I’m not in the way.”

“No way. Your mom kinda scares me.” He actually took a step away from her, holding out his hands.

Sarah smiled innocently,  “I mean, I’m in charge of things while mom’s at work. I’d hate to have to tell anyone you left Strongarm out there.  Alone. By herself…” 

“Scrap” Sideswipe swore again

Sarah fixed him with the same look her mom used.  After a few seconds, Sideswipe folded, transforming into the Corvette.

“Get in.”

“…No matter what I do she treats me like scrap.” 

Sarah leaned back in the seat, she had been listening to Sideswipe complain about Strongarm since they set out.

“Look, mom told me you don’t just get respect have to  _ earn _ it.  Maybe try showing her you deserve it.”

“Right, she’d just...Sideswipe stopped suddenly skidding to a halt to a halt.   A truck lay sideways across the path. Deep ruts ran from its tires to the fire lookout next to a rundown cabin.

“Where is this?’ Sideswipe asked, letting Sarah out.

“The ranger station...They mostly use it during hunting season, see reflective paint to mark the trees.”  She walked over to the fire lookout. “I was hoping we could use the lookout tower...but check this out.”

She pointed to the broken support beam, making the tower lean precariously. “This was done recently and the chain is snapped in half.  Something big…” Her eyes followed the ruts toward the underbrush “...went that way.”

They found Strongarm a short ways away, chained to a wooden structure,more a pile of sticks than a building.  A wolfish bot paced in front of her. explaining how he changed his ways.

“I don’t trust this guy, he’s way too smooth” Sideswipe whispered, “If I was half the criminal she thinks I am, I’d just walk away.”

Sarah perked up. “That gives me an idea.” 

  
  


“Greeting...uh, brother.”  The decepticon symbol reflected yellow from his chest.  Hopefully the wolf bot wouldn’t notice how crudely it was painted on. 

The bot introduced himself a Steeljaw, repeating his story about wanting peace. He seemd invested in listening to Sideswipe’s outlandish story. 

_ God Sideswipe is a terrible liar _ Sarah thought as she snuck over to Strongarm.   

“Go. Get out of here” the bot hissed at her.

Sarah shook her head, slipping two pieces of wire into the lock holding chains tight around Strongarm.  _ A little more... _ she twisted the wires carefully.  With a soft pop the lock opened. In a rush, Sarah jerked it free letting the heavy chain clunk against Strongarm’s shoulder.

Steeljaw’s ear twitched.  He whipped around facing the girl and the bot. Pacing slowly forward, but keeping all three in his sight. Sarah groped behind her, working a branch out of the structure.

“What are you? Besides strange.” He drawled, leaning close to her.

“Look who's talking.” Sarah swung the branch with all he might.  Steeljaw jumped neatly out of the way, flipping twice and coming down just out of range, but now fully facing her.  Behind him, Sarah could see Sideswipe moving to attack. Steeljaw’s ear twitched. 

Before he could turn his attention away, Sarah called out  “Hey! Are the flips necessary?”

_ Come on, take the bait  _ she prayed

“Whatever do you mean?” Steeljaw glared at her.

“They seem...superfluous.” She lowered her branch “I mean,  you’re already faster than me, who are you trying to impress? It just looked stupid.”

Steeljaw looked surprised, then insulted. He started angrily toward the girl, failing to notice that Sideswipe launched himself toward the wolfish bot.  Sarah rolled out of the way, scrambling toward Strongarm, to help work her free. Sideswipe took off running into the woods, the wolf close behind.

Strongarm was fully free by the time the pair reentered the clearing. Sideswipe dodged neatly to the side as Strongarm landed a powerful kick, launching Steeljaw back into a tree.  The tree cracked, falling rapidly toward Sarah. Before she could move, Strongarm transformed, scooping the girl up and out of danger. In the scramble, Steeljaw vanished into the woods.

  
  


“I don’t suppose we could not tell my mom about this?” Sarah asked weakly on the drive home.

Strongarm didn’t respond.

“I mean, I did help rescue you…” she continued hopefully.

“What you did was foolish and dangerous.  It’s my responsibility to tell your mother...and my lieutenant.”

“Scrap” Sarah muttered, slumping back into the seat.

“And watch your mouth.” Strongarm added.

  
  


*                                *                                *

It was a fun evening of grounding, tears, and slammed doors.  Stel poured herself a glass of wine, pacing the kitchen. She was furious with her daughter.  And for a moment, she was furious with the Autobots, but...It wasn’t really their fault. Sideswipe confessed that Sarah blackmailed him. They shouldn't have to worry about her kids, after all, she had promised her kids would stay out of the way.  Upstairs, she could hear Sarah sobbing into her pillow.She had to get out of the house.

In the back of the salvage yard, there were some low shelves  Usually they held old tires, but Stel had cleared the top off, giving herself a place to sit relax.  She grabbed another glass of wine and wandered out.

Bumblebee was already back there, leaning against the shelves, watching the sky.  

“You found my spot.” She said as she approached.

“Sorry. I can go.” 

“I don’t mind.  I come out here to get away from the kids.” She could see Sideswipe and Strongarm bickering in the distance.  “Same for you, I suppose?” 

Bumblebee gave her a half smile. She climbed up, putting her at about eye level him, and settled in at the opposite end.  She sipped her wine in silence, aware that he was watching her.

“I'm sorry about Sarah..” He started.

“Don’t be. She’s not exactly innocent in all this,.”  Stel set her glass down “And I didn’t set a good example, taking on Underbite.’ She shot him a sheepish grin. “They’ll probably get in the way, I can’t keep them inside all the time…”

“That was pretty brave. And we can use help, Theirs and yours, handling human interactions.”

Stel nodded. “We’ll do what we can.”  She kept her eyes on Sideswipe and strongarm, by now the bickering had turned into a slap fight.  

“They’re pretty young, aren’t they?”    

“They're...”  Bumblebee thought for a minute “Teenagers.  Grim’s not much older.”

There was a crash as Strongarm managed to knock Sideswipe over.

“And they just don’t listen” Bumblebee put his hand to his head in exasperation.

“Hey!” Stel put on the same measured tone she used on her kids, letting her voice echo across the yard, “Knock it off!”

The younger bots froze and turned to look in her direction.  They remained motionless for a moment. Then Sideswipe slowly reached out to poke Strongarm.

“I said knock it off!” Stel barked.

They both jumped back, and walked off in opposite direction.

“You have got to teach me how to do that.” Bumblebee sighed.


	3. Episode 5: WWOD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I seriously got a little second hand embarrassment from this episode, both from Denny's total lack of common sense and Bumblebee's Optimus Prime impressions.  
> Edit: I changed the end conversation a bit. My irl husband walked in as I was originally posting it and I didn't want him to read it.

_And in other news, scientists found a strange capsule in the woods outside of town. The capsule was taken to the Crown City Museum while our top minds study it. They say it’s completely alien in nature. Who know what, or who, could be inside._  
Stel almost dropped her breakfast seeing the news footage of a status pod. She hurried outside, just in time to watch Bumblebee breaking up a scuffle between Sideswipe and Strongarm.  
“It’s all in the voice…” She heard the older bot mutter to himself, “Like Optimus…” He let out a breath.  
“Team” Bumblebee started, dropping his voice an octave and posing dramatically before launching it an impassioned if completely out of character, speech. Behind him, Stel put her hand to her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle.  
He definitely got the others attention, though not in the way he imagined. After a second of stunned silence, the team burst out laughing. “That was the worst Starscream impression I ever heard.”  
Dejected, Bumblebee glanced back at Stel, who hastily raised her coffee mug to her lips, hiding a smile. Fortunately, Fix-it interrupted, informing the bots about a new Decepticon signal, located in the city.  
“That’s what I came to tell you, They have one of your pods at the museum.” Stel informed them. “There's a team of scientists trying to crack it open.”  
“Looks like we’ll need your help sooner rather than later.” Bumblebee told her. “We have to get to the pod before they can open it.”  
“The museum has a loading bay in the back, the doors should even be big enough for Grimlock.”  
“I have an idea!” Alex chirped. Stel hadn’t noticed him sitting on the hood of a car nearby.  
“What if we posed as archeologists? With a big find? And we wanted to donate it? Then we could get in the museum!”  
Stel looked blankly at her son. “I like where you head is…” she said slowly, “but it’s a public museum, we can just walk in. Plus, security’s pretty light and I know how to get back to the loading docks.“  
“Well, can I go?” Alex opened his eyes wide.  
She knew that was coming. “...Yeah, okay.”  
“Can I?” Sarah stood on the front steps, looking hopeful.  
Stel should have known that was coming, too.  
“You’re grounded, so no. Besides Joe is coming by for more parts.” Stel told her pouting daughter “And tell him the Camaro is not for sale.”

Stel sat tensely, finding it impossible to relax. Her son, not so much. He bounced happily in his seat, peppering Bumblebee with questions. Stel, however, found it weird and slightly uncomfortable, to be riding inside someone she had just been talking to. Thankfully, the trip to the museum was short. She made a mental note to take her own car next time.

The museum was fairly empty, Stel greeted the the attendants cheerfully and lead her son to the rear of the building. They were able to slip into the employees only door with ease. The back rooms of the museum were clear all the way to the dock, most likely the employees were gathered around watching the scientists work on the stasis pod.  
Stel slid the huge door open, just in time to watch Bumblebee breaking up a fight between Sideswipe and Strongarm. Again.  
“Hey!” She called “The coast is clear. After I pull the alarm, you’ll have about ten to fifteen minutes until the Fire Department gets here.” She waited until the bots were in the building before flicking the alarm down.  
Alex zipped ahead, carefully peeking into the public part of the museum. “Clear!” he shouted, bouncing out.  
“Lex!” Stel caught the boy’s arm. “Stay with me.” She lead Bumblebee's team to the main Atrium, currently featuring a display celebrating Crown City’s western heritage. Statues of cowboys and horses posed in front of mural of old Crown City.  
“What are these statues so happy about?” Grimlock asked  
“Well, They’re cowboys, adventurers who transported bovine and equine creatures across the old west. It was a very exciting time.” Bumblebee explained, enthusiastically.  
“I understood exactly none of that” Grimlock said.  
Sideswipe nodded, “Let go find the stasis pod.” He and Grim started to walk away.

‘Stop!” Bumblebee began, dropping his voice and striking a pose again. Bumblebee barely got started before the team walked away, each in a different direction.  
Bumblebee heaved a sigh, “Stay here, if anything goes wrong, evacuate via the loading docks.” He headed off down one of the halls.  
Stel reached back to take Alex’s hand, except the boy wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere in the hall.  
“Well, shit.” She swore.

“Alexander the Great, world famous explorer is searching for the lost stasis pod.” the boy narrated to himself as a wandered the empty museum. He rounded a corner to find the pod laying in the middle of one of the restoration labs.  
“Alexander the Great knew he should get help…”  
Whatever advice the boy was giving himself was interrupted by the pod exploding open. A large Decepticon, looking roughly like a humanoid buffalo burst out with a roar.  
Alex stumbled back against the wall, dropping a far stronger swear than his mom would have liked.  
“What are you?” the bot demanded.  
“Alex?” the boy suggested.  
“What is this place? Last I remember my boss sent me out to smash something and then I woke up in that tiny box.” without waiting for a reply, the bot began smashing the pod, leaping on top shouting “ No one puts Terrashock in a tiny box.”  
He glanced around the lab in a panic, muttering about walls closing in. With a final frenzied roar, he lowered his head and charged smashing through the wall, just missing the cowering Alex.  
“Which way is out?” the bot loomed over Alex  
“Um, I don’t know...I can go find out…”The boy said meekly.  
“Lex? Is that you?” Sideswipe appeared at the end of the hall.  
Terrashock spun around, “Are you the one the boss sent me to smash?”  
“Probably not…” Sidswipe started.  
“Course you’d say that, what do you think I am, stupid?”  
“Is that a trick question?”  
With a grunt Terrashock lowered his head and rammed Sideswipe, knocking him into a wall, the buffalo bot continued past skidding and crashing around the corner.

Stel flinched as another crash echoed from the museum. She was pacing outside the loading dock.  
“He’ll be okay,” Bumblebee tried to reassure her.  
“Not after I get a hold of him.” She mumbled under her breath.  
The sound of an engine caught her attention, she looked up as a red Corvette launched out of the dock. Sideswipe transformed in midair, popping Alex out and catching him before the boy hit the ground.  
“That was awesome!” The boy cried, bouncing out of Sideswipes hands. “Hey did a big buffalo looking robot come through here? He called himself Terrashock.”  
“Big head, small brain?” Sideswipe added.  
Over the coms, Fix-it,confirmed Terrashock’s identity, adding that he was Cyberton’s fiercest enforcer.  
“Team..” Bumblebee spoke over the coms, using the lower voice “This is your leader, Bumblebee..” Stel made the mistake of meeting Sideswipe’s eyes and had to step back, hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.  
As Sideswipe drove off, Bumblebee leaned down, whispering to Stel, “I realized I wasn't adding the inspirational team stuff, like Optimus.”  
Stel bit the inside of cheek and nodded.  
“Come on, let’s get to the entrance of the museum.” Bumblebee took her silence for agreement.  
She grabbed Alex’s hand firmly and followed Bumblebee back to the entrance.  
Several crashes echoed through the halls.as they walked.  
“Any sign of the rest of the team?” Bumblebee asked.  
“Not yet,” Stel hesitated, but decided to voice her opinion “You know, the whole dramatic speech thing? I don’t think your team is...responding well.”  
He looked a little hurt, “I just don’t know what else..”  
Loud grunting interrupted as Terrashock charged down the stairs. Bumblebee put himself between the larger bot and the door, leveling a blaster at the buffaloid. Stel pulled her son out of the way, ducking behind a counter He managed to get a few shots off, but the larger bot rammed him, sending both of them crashing outside, landing in front of the gathered crowd.  
Terrashock raced off, shoving several cars out of his way. Bumblebee slowly stood up, shaking his head. There were several gasps from the crowd.  
Stel grabbed one of the museum’s uniform coats, throwing it on as she raced out.  
“Um, we’re having some technical difficulties...with...uh, out new animatronic exhibit…” She stuttered. She put her had on Bumblebee’s arm, “Let’s get you back inside.”  
Bumblebee straightened up, moving stiffly and marched in with her.  
Stel glanced back at the damages, “Glad we don’t live in the city, this’ll raise taxes.”

As they worked their way back to the loading docks, Bumblebee let his team know know Terrashock was loose. Suddenly, he stopped, staring at his reflection in one of the brass elevators, talking with...Optimus. Stel glanced down at Alex.  
“Yeah, he does that.” the boy shrugged.  
Whatever he heard, wasn’t good. Stel watched his shoulders slump.  
“Optimus Prime? What’d he say?” Alex asked.  
“That I’m not him” Bumblebee dropped his head.  
“You’re not him..” Stel started.  
“Clearly.” He started to walk away.  
Stel touched his arm again, stopping him, “What I meant is, you’re you, that’s enough. Don’t try be someone else.”  
Bumblebee stared at her. Slowly a look of understanding crept across his face.  
“So, what would you do?” she smiled up at him.  
He glanced past her, they had just entered the wild west exhibit.

The rest of the team was waiting at the dock, slightly shamefaced and apologetic, although they perked up at Bumblebee’s plan.  
“If no one is giving a buffaloid orders, it feels lost,but if someone seers the buffaloid…”Bumblebee explained  
“It’ll go where we want it!” Grimlock finished  
“Right into a stasis pod!” Strongarm said “Lieutenant, that’s brilliant.”  
“Better than that, It’ll be fun.” Bumblebee rubbed his hand together.  
“Cowboy up?” Stel suggested.  
“Autobots, Cowboy up.” Bumblebee repeated.  
“Cowboy Grimlock. I like that.” Grim grinned.

Stel and Alex elected to ride along with Strongarm. Stel found it slightly more comfortable with her.  
They found Terrashock driving down the highway, nudging cars out of his way. As the bots raced up, Terrashock transformed, hardly losing momentum and leapt across the the highway into oncoming traffic. Bumblebee followed, still in Camaro form, ramping over the concrete divider. He edged Terrashock over, nudging the rampaging bot back.  
Strongarm pulled up next to him, keeping him heading straight ahead.  
Terrashock started to slow, falling behind, until Grim gave him a slap with his powerful tail. The buffiloid roared and raced ahead, straight toward the support pillar for an overpass.  
Bumblebee slipped in front stopping suddenly, sending Terrashock flipping head over heels down a closed offramp. Grim followed, landing on the buffaloid, rendering him incapacitated.  
“Lieutenant, our cover!” Strongarm had reason to be concerned, the spectacle drew quite a crowd.  
“Do you have a loud speaker, by any chance?” Stel asked.  
“Blue button” Strongarm answered.  
Stel picked up the mike, cleared her throat and announced “Ladies and Gentlemen, If you enjoyed this show, just head on over Wichita Speedway where we have lots more action. Kids get in free every Tuesday night.” She clicked off the handset. “That might cover our tracks.”

“It’s pretty nice back here”

Stel was already seated on the tires by the time Bumblebee wandered back.

“Yeah.  Great view of the stars,” she leaned back looking up,  “It’s one of the things I'll miss.”

“Miss?” Bumblebee took up his spot opposite her.

“I’m trying to sell this place...or I was, I took it off the market for the time being.”  Stel smiled to reassure him, “It’s not like there’s a lot of people looking for a salvage yard.  It’s just, this was Jason’s thing, not mine.”

“Jason?’

“My husband. He...there was a car crash a few years ago and he…” She trailed off, looking down at her glass.

Bumblebee was quite for a while, before he spoke again, turning to face her. “I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose someone close to you...Should we go?”

“No,no, stay please. This is the most excitement we’ve had in long time.” And I like having you around.”  She felt her cheeks pink, thankful it dark and looked away suddenly, taking a big gulp of her wine.  See could see a half smile on Bumblebee's face out of the corner of her eye.

 


	4. Episode 6: As the Kospego Commands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on Episode 6, Stel would rather not deal with the Kospego bros. Since this is written from her point of view, I had to leave out a lot of the action, but I got to make up a reasonable reason why Strongarm didn't rush back to help.

It seemed like every time Stel came home from work, there was a disaster. This time, the a pile of broken stasis pods came crashing down around the Fix-it, narrowly missing him. The minicon backed into another pile, knocking it over as well. Stel instinctively started forward to help the little bot. Fortunately for her, and Fix-it, Bumblebee got there first, catching the heavy pod.   
“Didn’t I tell Sideswipe to help you with this?” Bumblebee asked, replacing the pod.  
Stel could see Sideswipe a ways away, completely oblivious, headphones on, dancing to his music. If he wasn’t four foot taller and made of some sort of metal, she’d like to smack him upside the head. As it was, she left Bumblebee to deal with it.

Stel had barely set down her purse when something buzzed and flashed near the door.  
“Okay, What’s that?” She asked her kids, who came running at the sound of the alarm.  
“Fix-it installed a proximity alarm.” Sarah shrugged.  
“That's...Probably a good idea.” She headed back out the door, followed by her two kids. The Autobots had already transformed, hiding in plain sight among the other cars.   
Someone was knocking on the gate. Pounding, really.  
“Hang on. We’re usually appointment only” Stel yelled, making the trek over. The sight on the other side stopped her; three college age men stood at in front of pick up, each wearing a bedsheet and a hat with antlers.  
“Give us what we desire or the Kospego shall destroy you all!”  
“Nope.” Stel started to close the gate.  
“Stop! The great Kospego commands it!” The one in front bellowed, holding up his arms, “He appeared to us in the forest and has tasked us with retrieving certain items of great importance!” The guy lowered his arms, “Please I have cash.” he added in quieter voice.  
“I’m going to regret this,” Stel muttered, “Come on,” Two of the guys went back to get the truck, already piled high with junk. The leader, who introduced himself, twice, as Arnold, followed Stel to the office, reading off a list as he walked. Most of the parts were easy little things, clips, electrical parts, an alternator, and a high capacity generator.   
“Don’t give them the generator, I’ll explain later.” Bumblebee murmured, just loud enough so Stel could hear.  
“I don’t have a generator anyway, at least not for sale.” she directed her comment at the guys, “The rest of this stuff is easy. We’re usually you wrench it...but I don’t really trust you.”   
Stel sent her kids out for the parts, enduring mutters about child labor laws from Sarah.  
“I don’t want these guys wandering around unsupervised.” She explained, not bothering to keep her voice down.  
Arnold took a few steps toward Stel, “So...you do have the generator…” He inched a bit closer, looking expectantly at her.  
“I will tase you.”  
All three guys edged away, shuffling around, whispering to each other. She overheard something about the dam and a generator.  
It didn’t take long for the kids to find all the stuff, mercifully. Arnold didn’t wait for her to total up the parts, but shoved a wad of bills in her hand and quickly drove off.  
“Okay, so what was that about?” Stel counted the bills, more than three times the cost of the parts.  
Before anyone could answer, Strongarm pulled in.   
“The mission was a complete failure.” She apologized, “I didn’t find anything at the crash sight that we didn’t see earlier. Except this.” Strongarm held out a baton, accidentally activating it. The weapon sent a bolt of blue energy slicing through a Plymouth Roadrunner. The car split neatly in half, smoking slightly.   
Stel hopped off her perch, “Could we…”  
Fix it cut her off, “That’s a Decepticon Hunter!” he chirped excitedly. “ They connect directly to the users neurotransmissions, so whatever combat device the user imagines the Decepticon Hunter generates.”  
“That sounds awesome!” Alex tried to dart toward Strongarm. Stel grabbed him and pulled him back to her.  
“Stay here, just in case.” She added under her breath “I can see exactly where this is going.”  
As suspected, each attempt Strongarm made to produce a blaster resulted in a drastically different weapon. And each one inflicted further damage on the poor car. She was grateful Bumblebee invervined before Sideswipe could get his hands on it.  
“So cool!” Alex shouted, looking at the pulverized pile of metal.   
Sarah poked the mess with her shoe, “At least we can sell it as scrap metal,” she said weakly.  
There goes twelve thousand dollars, Stel thought. Although really, it was impressive that this was the only major damage the giant robots had inflicted. Grimlock and Sideswipe in particular weren’t exactly...careful.   
She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, “So property damage aside, what was with weirdos in the antlers?”  
“That list of parts wan’t random. I suspect the Kospego is one of our Decepticons, tricking humans into jerryrigging a space bridge.” Bumblebee explained.  
“A space bridge?”Strongarm exclaimed. “So we could go home to gather reinforcements!”  
“Or anyplace else.” Sideswipe added.  
“We could if we thought this space bridge would work,” Bumblebee stopped them, “It’s more likely that the slightest misalignment could create a black hole that would destroy Earth.”  
“Which would be bad.” Grim helpfully added.  
“Yeah, I vote we don’t destroy the Earth. I mean, that’s just my preference.” Sarah agreed.

“So what is the Kospego? Maybe we can figure out who we’re dealing with.” Bumblebee looked at Stel.  
“The Kospego is a monster that lives in the woods and eats people.” Alex said. “I’ve seen it!”  
“Really?” Grim looked impressed.  
“No.” Stel explained “And you didn’t see it, you saw a deer”   
“I was right about the dinosaur,” Alex pouted. He would never let her live that down.  
Ignoring him, Stel continued, “It’s from a Native American legend, supposedly it’s an evil spirit walks on two legs and has head of a elk”   
She looked pointedly at Alex, “But it’s just a story.”   
Fix-it pulled up the prisoner manifest, flicking through until he found a Decepticon with large antlers.  
“Thunderhoof,” He announced, “Matches the general description”   
“I heard them mention dam. If I remember correctly, there’s several generator that fit their needs.” Stel offered.  
“Alright, Autobots..” Bumblebee started.  
“Here comes another stinker,” Sideswipe whispered to Strongarm.  
“No, he’s got it this time,” Strongarm assured him.  
“...Let’s rev, rock and rumble!” Bumblebee continued.  
Strongarm actually flinched at that one. Stel had to elbow Sarah to keep her from commenting.

After dinner, Stel sent the kids up to get ready for bed. She grabbed her glass of wine and started over to the shelves. She got as far as the front steps, leaning against the porch pillar.   
“Mom?” Sarah stood in the doorway.   
Stel motioned her daughter over. Sarah sat on the steps, watching her mom.  
“So...are you worried?” the girl asked.  
“Bumblebee won’t let anything happen. Don’t worry.”  
“I’m not. But if the space thing works...Will they leave?”   
“I don’t know, maybe.” Stel said “Why? Do you want them to leave?”  
Sarah laughed, “Nah, Alex would be devastated. And I like Sideswipe.”  
Stel joined her daughter on the steps. “You like Sideswipe because you can bully him like your brother.”  
“Yeah.” Sarah glanced sideways at her mom. “Do you want them to leave?”  
“It’s not that, I just…” She never got to finish her thought, Stongarm practically dragged Grimlock through the gate.  
“Go get Fix-it.” Stel ordered her daughter, jogging over to Strongarm.  
“Is he okay?”   
“Are we there yet? Someone said we’d stop at McDonalds.” Grimlock slurred.  
“...so that’s a no.” Stel answered her own question.  
“He took a pretty bad beating from Thunderhoof,” Strongarm explained. “Because someone left his post.”  
“Sideswipe.” she didn’t need Strongarm to confirm. “Where is he? And Bumblebee?”  
“The Decepticon got a generator. The lieutenant went after him to try and shut down the machine.” Strongarm set Grimlock down as Fix-It zipped over over.   
“Are you heading back?” Stel asked.  
“The lieutenant told me to stay with Grimlock...” Strongarm hesitated.  
“We can babysit Grim.” Stel, pulled Sarah in front of her, “They might…”  
At that moment, Grimlock chose to try and get up with a cry of “I need to punch the clown…” Before falling over again. Sarah looked to Strongarm for an explanation.  
“He saw your McDonalds restaurant and wanted to fight the mascot.” She told them.  
“On second thought, maybe you should stay.” Stel said.  
Fix-it determined there wa no permanent damage. Nevertheless, it was late by the time they got Grimlock calmed down and settled. Strongarm stayed with him, although begrudgingly, and likely only because Sarah dragged her pillow and blanket out to stay with her.

Stel was almost asleep, wrapped in a blanket on the front steps, when she heard Bumblebee and Sideswipe return. She shrugged off the blanket and hurried over.  
“No cataclysmic black hole, so the mission was a success?”  
“No space bridge either,” Sideswipe muttered.  
“The machine was destroyed and Thunderhoof was teleported...somewhere.” Bumblebee said.   
“I’m just glad your back.” She stifled yawn  
“You didn't need to wait up.”   
“I was worried ”   
“Wait, were you worried about us?” Sideswipe grinned at her.  
Stel didn’t answer, just gave a little shrug, “I wouldn’t want to miss the potential end of the world. Besides Grim snores.”  
“How is he?” Bumblebee asked  
“Fix-it checked him out, said he’ll be fine. He’s sleeping it off.” She yawned again, “Which is where I should be.”   
She paused at the door, glancing back, “‘night, Bee, Sideswipe.” before slipping inside.


	5. Episode 7: Collect 'Em All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A deception who likes shiny things and a lifestyle/gossip columnist.   
> Look, women don't usually have the same competitive relationships guy do. Even if they did, Stel isn't the collector that Denny is, and probably wouldn't have an issue selling to Larry LaRue. She does have an issue with someone splashing her name around.

Between cooking in the cafe and helping Jason work on on cars, Stel rarely wore her wedding ring on her finger. Instead it hung on a gold chain, a first year anniversary present after her husband noticed how often the ring sat in her jewelry box. Lately though, she had been hesitant to put it on. After two years, it seemed almost disingenuous to wear it.   
She held up the necklace, watching the diamond ring flashed in the morning light as it turned slightly on the chain. There was commotion from downstairs, pulling her back. Without further thought,she fastened the chain around her neck and headed down.  
Sarah had made breakfast, of a sort, the commotion must have been when she dumped the dishes in the sink, rather than loading the dishwasher.   
Both kids were now outside huddled around Fix-it watching the monitor. Stel grabbed a slice of cold toast and joined them.  
“Who are we chasing to day?” she asked.  
“Don’t know.” Alex said, giving his mom a quick hug.  
“The signal keeps disappearing and reappearing...Ah! There it is and it’s on the move.” Fix-it relayed the location to Bumblebee’s team.  
The proximity warning went off.  
“Appointment only, it’s not that hard, people.” Stel muttered, trudging over to open the gate. A blonde women in a suit and sunglasses leaned against a Porsche.  
“Hey, Estella!” She popped forward to give Stel a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  
“Jen?...Uh, what are you doing here?”   
“Two things. A little bird told me you pulled this place off the market and I want to know why.”  
“I just...I wasn't ready to sell. I thought I was, but I’m not.”  
“Is it a guy?” Jen pushed past her into the yard. She peeked over the top of her glasses, “Tall, dork , and handsome? You have a type.”  
“Jen, it’s not guy and this isn’t…”  
“Reason number two;” Jen interrupted, “I want to do a piece on your salvage yard. Decorating with used cars is tres chic right now. We can have you cleared out and in the city in no time.”  
“Aunt Jen!” Sarah ran up and hugged the new woman.  
“Sweetie,” Sarah received a kiss on the cheek as well, “Tell your mom to let me do a piece on her. It could be a regular thing!”   
“Jen, we really have to go, right Sarah?” Stel kicked her daughter’s ankle.  
“Like, her own show?” Sara asked Jen, oblivious.  
“ We’ll make her an HGTV Star!” Jen laughed.  
“Sarah, go get ready for...for soccer.” Stel practically shoved Sarah a way. She took Jen by the arm and lead her back to her car.  
“Jen, I love you, but I’m really not interested in being a star or clearing out my cars, or selling the place. I just...We have...It’s not a good time.” Stel waited until her friend got back in the car and started the engine before retreating to the gate. “Look, I’m sorry. Call me and we’ll talk later.”  
Jen pursed her lips and look calculatingly at the closing gate. It didn't take gossip columnist to know Stel was hiding something.

Sarah was waiting inside for her mom.  
“Seriously, mom, an HGTV star! You love HGTV!”   
“Forgive me,” Fix-it buzzed over “I am unfamiliar with the star classification HGTV, and I fail to see how that woman could induce stellar fusion.”  
“Sweetie,” Stel said to her daughter, ‘I don’t want to be on T.V., And I’m really not ready to sell this place.  
As Bumblebee and his team pulled in, Stel added ”Plus, we promised Bumblebee we’d keep his secret.”

“We lost the fugitive, anything on the scanners?” Bumblebee said as he approached. Alex, who seemed a quick study under Fix-it, shook his head.  
“Let’s see the mugshots. Flyers only.” Strongarm suggested.  
Fix-it brought up the prisoner Manifest, sorting through until Sideswipe recognized the silhouette.   
“Filch. Compulsive thief.” Bumblebee read off the screen. “She’s been stealing everything from water Tanks to radar domes.”  
“Filch would already be in custody if Sideswipe hadn’t broken regulation 134 Section 2.” Stongarm helpfully pulled up the regulation manual.   
“What is up with you? You’ve been a real freak about the rules these past few cycles.”  
“We all need to go by the book.” Strongarm stormed off. Bumblebee shot sideswipe a look before going after her.”  
“I didn’t start it that time!” Sideswipe held up his hands   
“You kinda did…” Sarah said, “A little.”  
Sideswipe slumped and sighed heavily, heading in the opposite direction to pout.

It wasn’t long before Fix-it call the team back, “Filch is on the move again.”  
“Sideswipe, Strongarm, lets go. Stel? We might need your help with the civilians.”  
“No problem, but I’m taking my own car.”   
“I’m staying here. Birds creep me out.” Sarah announced. Stel raised a eyebrow to Alex, who scrambled to get in the car.  
“Alright, let’s rumble” Grimlock yelled, after a particularly dramatic transformation.  
“Not his time, Grim…” Bumblebee started.  
“No, I been working on this” the dinobot ducked behind the shed, “Hang on..” several crashes later he emerged, a tire clutched in each hand and grill around his neck.  
“I’m a truck.” He announced proudly.  
Stel opened her mouth, but found herself at a loss for words. Sarah, however, was not.  
“Were you dropped on your head?’ the teen asked incredulously.   
“Oh yeah, plenty of times.” Grim grinned at her. He looked hopefully at Bumblebee, who, trying not to laugh, simply shook his head.

The station wagon was not built for speed, but somehow Stel managed to keep up. They found Filch hovering around the Crown City Bridge,desperately tugging at a steel beam. Bumblebee transformed just as the beam broke free. He managed to grab the beam, bracing himself against the railing to keep Filch escaping. As the tug-o-war commenced, deep cracks formed in pavement.  
“Quick, stabilize the bridge” He ordered the other two. To his credit, Sideswipe immediately dropped down to brace the falling bridge.   
“Sir, disaster protocol states…”Stongarm started.  
“Write me up later, just go.”   
She hesitated, but followed Sideswipe down.  
“We need to keep cars off the bridge” Bumblebee called to Stel.  
“Got it.”   
Stel pulled her down to the city end of the bridge. Traffic would be picking up soon, folks heading home from the city. Fortunately, not much from the other direction. She stopped her car across the road, grateful for the behemoth of a station wagon. It easily blocked both lanes.  
She slid out of the car and propped up the hood. She popped the battery cable of and wrapping a bit of duct tape around the post, before replacing the cable. No engine damage and it’ll take them hours to find.   
No cars yet, but in the distance she could hear sirens approaching. Still they’d have to get a tow truck out there, but her roadblock wouldn’t buy them more than a few minutes.  
“Okay,” she told Alex. “When the cops come, we had engine trouble, the car skidded and we can’t get it started. I went for help.” She tossed her phone to her son, just in case, and ran back toward the bots.  
“Shiney!” Filch was desperately pulling the beam, refusing to give up.  
“Bee! My blockade isn’t going to last long.” Stel skidded to stop as another crack formed. Her wedding ring slipped out of her collar, catching the light. The flash immediately caught Filch’s attention.   
“Shiney!” the bird screamed again, diving toward her, the process, knocking Bumblebee back and gaining control of the steel beam. Stel tried to duck out of the way, but felt Filch’s beak snag her jacket. Before she could wiggle out of it, Filch launched into the air, out of the bot’s reach. Distantly, she heard Bumblebee call her name.

* * *

“Hey, hey” Jen called softly, peeking in the cracks of the gate. No movement. She tried the gate, and found it locked. The side fence was chain link, easy to climb, even in heels.  
She knew Stel was hiding something, and even if she wasn’t, well...I’m just going to take a few pictures to use them in my story. What Estella doesn’t know, won’t hurt me. Jen justified to herself, dropping over the other side.

“Hey, Sarah, do customers usually come through gate or over the fence?” Grimlock found her sitting with Fix-it.  
“Through the gate. Why?”   
I’m guessing this isn’t a customer then.”   
Fix-it called up the security feeds. They watched as Jen dropped gracefully over the edge of the fence.   
“It’s that woman from before.” Fix-it commented.  
“I’ll go see what she wants. Once Aunt Jen gets an idea in her head, it’s heard to change her mind.” Sarah got up to go find her. “I say we let her do her story.” She muttered.  
“I highly doubt your mom would behoove...remove..ah, approved.” Fix-it stuttered.”She could see Grimlock or me…” He examined his limbs, continuing, “And I really should be detailed.”  
“I mean, if it gets mom more business maybe we can sell this place and finally move.” with that Sarah sighed, “Just stay here, I’ll deal with Aunt Jen.” Sarah assured them.  
It didn’t take Sarah long to find Jen, wandering among the sports cars.  
“Hey girly!” Jen called, “Is your mom around?”  
“No, she had to run an errand. I usually handle customers while she’s out.” Sarah said, giving Jen a look that would make her mother proud.  
“Oh sweetie, I’m not looking to buy, just take some pictures maybe get an interview...run my piece. Can I get a quote?” Jen held up her phone, filming the girl.  
“J&E Salvage is the largest Auto Salvage yard in the area. Everything you see is for sale.”  
“Great, I’m just gonna wander and take some pictures, very redneck chic stuff.”  
“Aunt Jen…” Sarah trailed off, for whatever reason Grimlock, in full dino mode, was making his way out.  
Jen started started to follow her gaze.  
“Hang on Aunt Jen, the vintage stuff is over here. No one wants an Omni when they could have a Sunbird, right?”  
“Mm-hmm, but what’s so interesting over there.” the woman marched off in Grim’s direction. Fortunately, he had the foresight to freeze.  
“That's...ah one of the animatronic dinosaurs, you know from the museum.”  
“I heard they had some problems with those, caused a lot of damage.” Jen clicked a few photos, before setting her phone down on the hood of car. She walked around Grim, eyeing him critically.  
“I like it, it’s kinda cute. She finally declared “It’d make a nice planter.” She added with a laugh.  
“The vintage cars?” Sarah suggested, she turned in time to see Fit-it pick up Jen’s phone. She could just make out the unmistakable click as the minicon took a few selfies. Sarah desperately motioned for him to drop the phone. He just managed to duck away when Jen tore herself away from Grim.  
“So, vintage cars?” Jen grabbed her phone and followed Sarah through the yard, away from Grimlock.

 

Stel hated heights and she hated flying in the best circumstances. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed her jacket held. Wherever Filch’s nest was, the fight was short, Stel was deposited roughly on a pile of metal. It took her a few moments to gain control of her breathing and to stop shaking. When she did open her eyes, she found herself surrounded by piles of random objects. Carefully, she made her way to the edge, and peeked over. The ground loomed at least 100 feet away. She was at the top of the Crown City Monument, a huge statue in the city park. Dizzy, Stel backed away, searching for her phone. The phone she had tossed to Alex, back on the bridge.  
A sudden gust of wind nearly knocked her over. Filch peered at her, first with one eye, then the other.   
“Not Shiny!” the bird crowed angrily.   
“No, wait,”she pulled the ring out of her jacket, “Look shiny, it’s yours. And I know where there’s more.”  
She pointed out across the bay. “There's a big metal recycling plant, straight over there. Lot’s of shiny.”  
“Shiny?” Filch leered down, her beak inches from Stel’s face.  
“I can...I can watch over your stuff, keep anyone from stealing your shinys”   
Filch pulled back, seeming satisfied with that arrangement.   
“Shiny” She agreed and launched herself from the statue, flapping off toward the recycling plant.  
Stel waited until she was well away before digging through the rubbish, looking for a phone, or a radio, something. Among the scrap, was the back half of a taxi, and lo and behold, a cell phone, hastily abandoned. Alex was probably with the tow company by now, but Sarah back at home, could get a message out to Bumblebee.  
She answered on the first ring. “What?”  
“Is that how I raised you to answer phones?”  
“Mom? Mom, I screwed up bad. Aunt Jen is here and I let her take pictures and she got Grim and Fix-it on her camera.”  
“Okay, We’ll deal later. Right now, I need you to get a message to Bumblebee.”

Stel settled back in the broken taxi, nothing to do now but wait. And accept her fate as the keeper of Filch’s treasures. 

“Race you to the top.”  
That was Bumblebee’s voice. Stel chanced a look over the edge, fighting the wave of vertigo. Bumblebee and Sideswipe were indeed racing to climb the statue. Stongarm only slightly behind. A familiar scream ripped through the sky, Filch had returned to defend her horde. She sailed across the nest, Stel dropped down, to avoid the wind, looking up just in time to see the great bird enter a dive.  
“Secure Stel!” she heard Bumblebee yell, followed by a painful sounding crash.   
She just regained her footing when Sideswipe’s head popped over the edge, causing her to jump.  
“Shiney.” he smirked.  
“Oh, you’re funny.” Stel said.   
Sideswipe hauled himself up, “Have you seen a big beam around here?”  
“Probably on the top layer,”  
Filch wasn’t big on organization, still it didn’t take long to find. Sideswipe launched it down below with a triumphant whoop. Judging by sound, he hit his mark, not that Stel was getting anywhere near the edge to check.  
“We’ll get this back to Grim, Sideswipe, take Stel back.” Bumblebee called up.  
Sideswipe turned to her, holding out his hand, “Shall we?”  
“Yeah, so, I don’t do well with heights and I’m probably going to panic.”  
“Hey, I won’t let you fall.” He reassured her. “If Bumblebee didn’t kill me Sarah would.”  
Stel took his hand. She let out a breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She didn’t remember the climb down, she just shut her eyes and tried not to hyperventilate. Sideswipe setting her on the ground. Even then it took her a few before she trusted herself to stand.

Stel rolled into the scrapyard to find Jen and Sarah sharing a pizza.  
“Jen…” Stel started.  
“Look, Stella, I’m sorry. Sarah has spent the past hour or so telling me about how much the yard means to you.” Jen grinned. “So...I’ll keep you out of it. No hard feelings? I couldn’t bear if you were mad at me.” She threw her arm across her forehead dramatically.  
Stel laughed. “Girl, run your story, just leave my name out of it. I’m even okay with the pictures, just let me sort through them, okay? I want to make sure there’s nothing that shows our name.”  
Jen hesitated, but held out the phone. “Just stay out of Facebook and Tinder. And Instagram.”  
“Nothing but the photos. And I already follow you on Instagram.”   
Stel swiped through the photos, deleting the shots of Grimlock, Fix-it, and anything with J&E on it.   
“There, plenty of junk cars for you to use.”  
“You’re still hiding something…” Jen said, hugging her friend.  
“Maybe, but only because I know it’ll drive you nuts.” Stel responded, “Next time I’m in the city, we’ll do lunch.” 

Stel sat on the shelves, nursing her glass of wine, alone. She felt a slight twinge of disappointment and thought about heading in. Why, though? She liked being out here, She’d spent plenty of time out here before. So it wasn't as if she were waiting for anyone.   
Bumblebee smiled as he approached, “Are you out here every night?”  
“Generally.” She smiled back.  
“I’ve been wondering, what’s Cybertron like?” Stel asked as Bumblebee settled next to her.  
“Cybertron?” He paused, “It’s not like this. There are cities bigger than anything on Earth…”   
“They’d have to be.” She smiled, the top of her head barely reached his chest.  
“There’s more than just the cities, Where I’m from, you can watch the moons raise over the Manganese Mountains.”  
“Moons, as in plural?”  
“Cybertron has two moons.” Bumblebee looked up at Earth’s moon. Stel studied his profile,  
“You miss it.” It wasn't a question. She could hear homesickness in his voice.  
“Don’t get me wrong, Earth is great too.”  
“Hey, I understand, it’s your home.” She shrugged and gazed into the distance “I’ve never been stuck on another planet, but I get it, I miss my home too, sometimes”  
“You’re not from here? I know Earth has several different biomes.”   
“You’ll be jealous…” Stel gave him coy smile,”I was raised out west on a genuine cattle ranch.”  
“Wait, you’re a cowboy...er, girl?” that got his attention.  
“I’m a little rusty, but in pinch I could probably rope a calf.”  
He let out little groan of longing, “Why would you give that up?”  
“It’s hard work, I prefer to cook. And I married a mechanic from Crown City.” Her voice trailed off. After a moment, she added “The kids still go out to the ranch for a few weeks in summer.”  
“I wish I could…” Bumblebee said absently.  
Stel laughed, “I’ll have my mom keep an eye out for Decepticons, maybe we can work something out.”


	6. Episode 10: Can you dig it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A burrowing decepticon, another near death experience for the humans, and Stel realizes she might really like cars.

Movie Night, when Stel would drag the old projector out and show a movie against the side of the garage. They had a limited selection of movies, mostly classics. Tonight, Sarah had picked The Wild One, due to her crush on young Marlon Brando.  
The kids played drive-in, sitting in convertible and sharing a bowl of popcorn. Stel prefered to be stretched out on the hood of a car. The Autobots joined them. Stel found herself between Bumblebee and Strongarm while Grimlock and Sideswipe sat next to the kids. If anything, she was enjoying the running commentary.  
“Okay, I get they’re fast and make a lot of noise, but when are they going to transform?” Grimlock asked.  
“I mean, they’re just plain motorcycles.Vehicles only.” Sarah said.  
“Well, don’t those humans have anything better to do than ride around causing trouble?” Strongarm demanded.  
“Hey, they don’t play by anyone else’s rules. They don’t want to be like everyone else.” Sideswipe helpfully explained.  
“Then why do they all wear the same rackets..packets...er, jackets?” asked Fix-it.  
“They do it...to, uh show their all different...in the same way?” Sideswipe sputtered. “Uh...you wouldn’t understand.” He got up and stormed off.  
“Different in the same way?” Alex mouthed to Sarah, who giggled.  
“Alright, Lex, time for bed.” Stel slid off the hood and opened the door for her son.  
“Aw, it’s not over.” the boy groaned.  
“It’s late, and you don’t like the next part anyway.”  
“hmph” Lex pouted, but went in, making it clear that this was under duress. Stel walked with him as far as the door, to make sure he didn’t sneak back. She arrived back at the makeshift theater in time to catch the Autobot’s reaction to the big kiss.  
“Why are they mashing their mouths together?” Strongarm grimaced.  
“They’re kissing. It’s a thing. On Earth.” Sarah explained.  
“It’s weird.”  
Stel laughed, “I guess it is if you think about it, but it’s fun.”  
“You’ve done that?” Strongarm looked shocked.  
“Honey, I have two kids, I’ve done a lot more than kiss.” Immediately, she regretted her comment.  
“Like what?” Grimlock asked, curious.  
Giving the sex talk to alien robots was not on the agenda. She stood, mouth open for e second before quickly saying, “I’ll tell you when your older...Sarah, bed.”  
Sarah, holding in laughter, didn’t bother to argue. As they walked away, Stel heard Grim mutter “Aw, how much older?”  
“I kinda wanted to hear you explain that one.” Sarah said as they entered the house.  
“Sometimes my mouth acts before my brain engages.” Stel admitted  
The distinctive sound of fighting made both the ladies turn. Sarah gestured for her mom to go first and grabbed the Maglight as she followed. They arrived to find another autobot, whom Bumblebee addressed as Jazz.  
“Bee! What are you doing in this dump?” Jazz asked teasingly.  
“Hey!” Sarah sounded insulted.  
“It is.” Stel whispered to her daughter.  
‘It’s a salvage yard, the nicest one on this planet.” Bumblebee said as he approached his friend.  
“Don’t get too close, this one thinks he dangerous.” Jazz jerked his head towards Sideswipe, still on the ground. Sarah gave Sideswipe a smirk.  
“He just caught me by surprise” Sideswipe said, making a face at Sarah as he got up.  
“You know anything about a prison ship named the Alchemor?” Jazz addressed Bumblebee. “I’m checkin’ out a distress call.”  
Bumblebee lead Jazz back toward the front, explaining all everything that had happened. At some point, Sarah went inside to bed, while Stel fell asleep on the hood of a car, listening to Bumblebee retell his adventures on Earth.  
It was well into the morning when she was jarred awake by a small earthquake. A sinkhole began to open in the yard.  
“What was that?” Alex and Sarah leaned out of the front window.  
“Just a sinkhole!” She called back., before addressing the bots, “This area is full of mines, they just happen from time to time.”  
“I don’t think this one just happened” Fix-it pointed to a something rising out of the middle of the hole. A large bug- like robot leapt out, scuttling away from the Autobots. Stel knew enough to get out of harm's way, darting away from the action.  
“A Decepticon!” Quickly he pulled up the Alchemor’s manifest.  
“Ped. He burrows underground with those claws…” Fix-it started.  
“I got this” Sideswipe drew his weapon running after Ped. He launched himself at the Decepticon, who turned and delivered a powerful electric shock, sending Sideswipe flying.  
“...And his mandibles can deliver a temporary paralyzing shock.” Fix-it concluded.  
Before the others could act, Ped dove back underground. Almost immediately another sinkhole opened under Stel. She screamed as the dirt pulled her under.  
“Mom!” Sarah was out the door and probably would have followed her down if Strongarm hadn’t caught her. Alex was close behind and similarly restrained.  
Stel could feel the crush of dirt around her, worse than drowning, as she struggled to pull herself to the surface. Someone grabbed her her arm, stopping her decent. The earth continued it’s flow, creating a powerful suction. Slowly, she felt herself pulled upward, it seemed an eternity before her head broke the surface. She gasped for air, shaking the dirt from her face and hair. Bumblebee, supported by Jazz, had her. He set her gently on the ground.  
“Are you okay?” He asked.keeping his hand on her arm while she steadied herself.  
“I’m...good. I’m fine.” Stel wiped the dust off her face.  
“Mom!” Sarah and Alex broke away from Strongarm and ran to hug their mother.  
“Just like old times” Jazz said.  
“Lieutenant! It was a distraction!” Strongarm pointed to the now depleted pile of energon.  
“That’s what Ped came for.” Fix-it buzzed over.  
“I mean, he didn’t get all of it, at least.” Sarah said.  
“We hardly have an unlimited supply, every bit is precious.”  
“Alight, Grimlock, Fix-it, Stel stay here and guard the Energon. Sideswipe, Strongarm with me.” Bumblebee ordered.  
“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Jazz asked.  
“I didn’t want to presume.” Bee grinned.  
He lead the team to the edge of the now open hole. “Autobots…”  
“This’ll be good” Sarah whispered to her mom. Stel elbowed her kid lightly.  
“..Let’s bug out…”Bumblebee finished,lamely adding, ‘Cause we’re kinda chasing a bug?”  
“That’s your rallying cry?” Jazz looked askance.  
“I’m working on it’ Bumblebee muttered, dropping down the hole.

“So now what?” Sarah asked.  
“Stand guard and punch anything that moves.” Grimlock answered, taking a few practice swings.  
“What if we set a trap?” Alex suggested. “If that bug comes back maybe we could trick Ped into a stasis pod...use Energon as bait maybe?”  
“But if it failed, we’d lose our only source” Fix-it said.  
“So only use some of it, we can fake the rest” Sara piped in.  “Mom, remember the ranger station thay have that reflective paint. It totally glows in the sunlight.  I think they had Energon Blue.”  
“Okay, I’ll check the paint,” Stel said “Fix-it you’re in charge, Sarah and Lex, go find as many boxes as you can.”  
“What about me?” Grimlock asked.  
“Grim, you punch anything that comes near that Energon.”  
“Can do!” Grim said enthusiastically.

“I don’t think this paint was meant to be used in an airbrush.” Stel said through her mask. Still,she’d managed to paint several dozen boxes in a short time.  
“I just hope it comes off in my next detailing.” Most of Grim’s fingers shone blue as he stacked the boxes. Fix-it had generously donated enough energon cubes to give a strong signal, while still keeping enough in reserve. They had just finished stacking when the away team rolled in.  
Alex explained his plan, a stasis pod hidden in a pile of mostly fake energon. All they had to do was wait.

The family sat on the roof of the garage, away from any sinkholes. Bumblebee’s team waited, crouched on the roofs of a bus near by. Higher ground, also Alex’s suggestion, on the grounds that Ped might be able to sense vibrations. They didn’t have long to wait before the ground gave a little tremble, the dirt shifted near the Energon. Alex pointed, motioning to the bots. While everyone focused on that area the earth beneath the bus suddenly dropped away, dumping the Autobots deep underground.

Ped appeared between the garage and the Energon, facing Stel and her kids.  
“Hey ugly, you want it, go get it.” Alex pointed to the pile.  
The decepticon took the bait, heading to the pile and leaving the family alone.  
“Stay here.” Stel whispered. “Stall him if you can, if you can't, run.”  
She dropped off the the edge of the garage and sprinted back to the cougar. She’d been keeping the key with her, just in case. The Cougar probably needed a tune up, after being crushed and all, but she still ran, good old Spartan engineering.  
Ped approached the Energon, but stopped muttering to himself.  
“Ya’ know the other Decepticons would think I’m weak if I didn’t take care of you first.” Ped rounded on the kids.  
“Where’s the big one?” He demanded, looking back and forth between them. Alex pointed at the Cougar, speeding toward him.  
Stel rammed the Cougar into the Decepticon, knocking him back. She maneuvered hit again, but Sideswipe pulled himself over the edge of the hole.  
“Pull the others up, I’ll keep Ped busy.”  
Stel backed the Cougar as close as she dared to the edge and dropped the winch. She felt a tug and started to wind up, but it was too much for the motor. Instead she locked the cable, looping it around the hitch and pulled the Cougar forward. The wheels spun in the dirt and she could hear the cable start to fray.  
“There’s too much weight” She yelled back, shifted into 4 wheel drive and tried again. Slowly the Cougar lurched forward, dragging Bumblebee and Jazz over the edge.  
The pair charged Ped, but the Decepticon disappeared underground, only to reemerge behind Jazz. Ped clamped his claws around the autobot delivering the paralyzing shock. As Jazz fell, Sideswipe ran toward the piled Energon, goading the Decepticon to chase him.  
“...Then you’ll be what you’ve always been, a scavenger, a lousy stinkin’ Bot-Worm”  
Sideswipe edged closer to the trap. With a roar, Ped launched himself at Sideswipe, knocking both of them into the pod.  
Bumblebee hesitated to close the pod, in spite of Sideswipe’s instance.  
Come on,Sideswipe. Whatever was happening, it didn’t seem to go well for him. Bumblebee's hand hovered over the switch.  
Before he could hit the button, Jazz stopped him, leaping in the pod to join the fight.. Moments later, the two autobots climbed out relativly unscaved, leaving Ped trapped.

The cable held long enough to pull Strongarm out, but Grimlock barely got a foot off the ground before it snapped.  
“Crap. Grim, I need to find more cable.” Stel yelled down the hole.  
“And a new transmission” She added under her breath. She should probably get the tow truck, the cable was thicker and it should be able to pull Grimlock's weight.

 

Stel enjoyed listening to Bumblebee give a blow by blow recap of the fight under Crown City.  
“Jazz didn’t stick around long.” she commented.  
“He went back to clear up our trip with the council.” Bumblebee looked a little embarrassed. “Our mission is exactly...approved.”  
She had gathered that, you don’t generally take two teenagers on an operation like this.  
“You could have gone back.”  
“Well, our mission isn’t over…” Bumblebee said.  
“I know. But you could have gotten reinforcements, or, I don’t know, found a better base.”  
Bumblebee was quiet for awhile.  
“Did...you want us to leave?” he asked softly.  
“What? No!” She slid off the shelves onto a stack of tires, facing him.  
“I didn’t mean…” The stack wobbled a bit, Stel stopped to regain her balance. Bumblebee put his hand on her arm, to steady her.  
“Bee..” She started again, “I...uh, we...we like having you here.”  
“For as often as you’ve been in danger, I wouldn’t blame you.”  
“I’m tough. The kids are, too.” Stel laughed, shaking her head. “Near death experiences aside, I don’t want you to leave.”  
“Thank you” Bumblebee had kept his hand on her arm. Stel was suddenly very aware of his touch.  
“I...I should head in. I have to be to work in the morning.” She carefully disengaged, hopping off the stack.

_Why am I blushing?_ she thought as she headed back to the house.


	7. Ruckus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An original story. I pulled a Deception from Gen1 and gave Stel the day off. Sort of. Her friend learns the truth. Female relationships are important.  
> Also, my irl wants a chance to hit on a certain Autobot. So now we have second hand self-insert.

“Hey girl!” Jen’s unmistakable voice rang out, “You are always in this junk yard.” After dancing around it for a while, Stel finally agreed to a girl’s day with her friend. Jen arrived twenty minutes late to take her to lunch. Sarah and Alex ran out to give her hugs. While Stel grabbed her purse, Jen wandered over to admire the disguised Autobots, particularly Sideswipe.  
“You got some new cars.” Jen called as she walked around, stopping at the rear.  
“Mmm, If this car was a man…” She bit her lip and slapped Sideswipe’s bumper.  
Alex looked embarrassed, while Sarah lost it, laughing so hard she had to sit down. Stel clapped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh as she pulled her friend away.  
“We should get going.” She gently shoved Jen toward her car, whispering “I’m so sorry,” to Sideswipe as she passed.

Jen insisted on going to a fancy tapas place in Crown City. It didn’t take much for Stel to figure out why, the restaurant was empty and booths were private separated tall walls. Almost as soon as they were seated, Jen started grilling her friend.  
“So spill…” She leaned forward, eyeing Stel.  
“Spill what? I'm boring.”  
“Sweetie, I write a gossip column.” Jen gestured to herself. “I can tell when you’re lying.”  
She sat back, arms crossed over her chest, “First, you decide you want to hang on to that junk yard…”  
“Salvage yard, and I told you, I’m just not ready….”  
Jen continued, “Second you are all up in the weird stuff going on lately.”  
“That’s ridiculous,” Stel said.  
“The disaster at the museum? You were there. And that was your car parked on bridge when that condor attacked.” Jen counted off on her fingers.  
“Condor?” Stel looked confused before she connected it to Filch “Oh…”  
“Mm-Hmm, And those earthquakes? Hit your junk yard hard.”  
“Okay, how do you even know that?” Stel asked.  
“Guy at the seismology center’s a big fan. So go ahead and spill.”  
“Seriously there is nothing going on.”  
Jen stared at her friend in silence while the waitress brought their wine.  
“So then are you going to tell me about the guy?” She finally asked.  
“What guy? Why do you assume there’s a guy?”  
“Because all your bad decisions are influenced by a cute dork you fall in love with.”  
“Can you stop?” Stel said, louder than she meant, adding softly “There’s no guy, There’s nothing going on, so can we please drop it?”  
Jen narrowed her eyes studying her friend, while Stel pretend to read the menu.  
“‘Aight, I’ll drop it. You’ll tell me eventually, you always do.” She said, before changing the subject to the latest Kardashian gossip.

Jen didn't bring it up again. The rest of the afternoon went well, it had been awhile since Stel just got to relax. Mostly she watched Jen shop, helping her pick out highly impractical shoes and clothes that she would never wear, but it was fun playing dress up.  
“So where do we go to find you more black tank tops?” Jen teased, carrying several shopping bags out to her Miata. They were parked on the street outside Jen’s favorite Department store.  
“Haha. I’ll have you know I also wear white tanks, and If I’m feeling fancy, I have a pink one” Stel leaned on the parking meter watching Jen try to fit everything she bought in her tiny trunk.  
Jen managed to cram her bags in started to move around to the driver’s side.  
“Watch out!” Stel jerked her friend back, just in time. What appeared to be a Dune Buggy careened down the road.  
“Asshole!” Jen yelled after it. She started to walk out again, only to jump back as a red Corvette and yellow Camaro zoomed by. Stel grabbed her arm, knowing there would be at least one more. As expected, the blue bronco charged past, police lights blazing.  
“Ooo, Police chase! Let’s follow.” Jen pulled out of Stel’s grip and hopped in the driver’s seat. “Come on!”  
Stel got in the car, “I don’t think this is a good idea…”  
“What happened to the fun girl? We used to go on adventures all the time” Jen pulled out and headed in the direction of the chase.  
“We used to go spelunking, not get involved in police business.”  
“Pfft. I want to get the story before Chaz does.” Jen grinned, “I’d love to rub it in his face.”  
She wove in and out of traffic, accelerating all the way.  
Stel’s phone went off before she could respond.  
“Mom! Fix-it found a Decepticon signal in the city. Bee and the gang went after it…”Alex informed her.  
“I know. I’m with Jen. Apparently, we’re chasing them.” Stel couldn’t keep the frustration out of her voice.  
“Who’s that? Do they know what’s going on?” Jen looked over at her, changing lanes at the same time.  
“It’s Lex, it’s a long story...Keep your eyes on the road.”  
They had caught up to the chase. The Autobots were trying to force the Decepticon out of the city center. The Decepticon seemed to like this game, causing as much damage as possible and trying to force the Autobots into other cars.  
“This guy’s crazy, what is he thinking?” Jen fell back, but kept up the chase.  
“Mom! Mom?!” Alex’s voice came from the phone “Mom are you still there?”  
“Yeah, here honey.” Stel said.  
“Okay, the decepticon is called Ruckus and he likes chaos…”Alex paused, apparently listening to something on the other end. “He has multiple property damage charges...”  
“Is there someplace where we can corral this guy?” Stel asked her friend. “A construction site? or...parking lot? Somewhere we can contain him?”  
“What? Who the heck are you talking to? Shit!” Jen artfully dodged a flying hood from a car Ruckus plowed through.  
“Okay, yeah...um, there’s new construction, like just the excavation…”  
“Great. Lex, put Fix-it on, we’re going to give directions to a construction site, have him pass it on to Bee” She put the phone on speaker, holding it up for Jen.  
“Ready when you are bell...well...Stel.” She heard Fix-it stutter.  
“You have some explaining to do.” Jen said.  
“Me?” Fix-it sounded insulted.  
“Me.” Stel explained, “Jen,just give him directions.”  
“Okay, take the next left....”

Jen kept on the chase, following them right into the construction site. As they forced the Decepticon toward the edge of the excavation, Ruckus transformed, rolling roughly over Sideswipe.  
“Holy shit!” Jen leapt out of her car, pulling her phone out to take pictures.  
“Nope.” Stel grabbed the phone away from her. “No pictures, no video and no story.”  
The Autobots transformed, circling Ruckus, trying to keep him near the pit. The Decepticon clearly had no sense of self-preservation, throwing himself full force into the fight. He managed to shove Strongarm into Bumblebee, running toward the humans.  
“I love me some natives” He grinned wildly. “You look like you’ll squish nicely.”  
“Jen! Run” Stel gave her friend a shove before taking off in the opposite direction. Just her luck, Ruckus choose her, grabbing a steel barrel and heaving it after her. He missed by a wide margin, but Stel found herself cornered between the fence and a pile of steel beams. With a laugh, he charged her fist raised to pummel her. Bumblebee got there first, putting himself between her and taking the blow. The distraction gave Sideswipe and Strongarm time to regroup. Strongarm fired her Decepticon Hunter, bringing down Ruckus.  
“Are you okay?” Stel asked, looking up at Bumblebee.  
“Yeah, I’m good” He replied, rubbing the spot Ruckus hit. “You?”  
“I’m fine.” She assured him, “Thank you. Again.”  
“Lieutenant?” Strongarm nodded toward Jen, “We have a civilian”  
“She’s not a civilian…I mean, she is, but…” Stel trailed off. “Jen has contacts all over the city. She’s probably more useful than I am.”  
“I trust you.” Bumblebee said.

“...And they need to maintain a low profile. You absolutely can not tell anyone.” Stel poured her friend another glass of wine. They were sitting on the hood of a car sharing a bottle of wine, while Stel filled in the details.  
“I need you to swear on your Θ pin.”  
“Alright, I swear by our sorority sisterhood.” Jen held up her hand solomely. “Not that anyone would believe me.”  
The girls sipped their wine in silence.  
“So…that Corvette this morning…” Jen started.  
“Sideswipe,” Stel grinned, gesturing to the red bot. He had been avoiding the pair since they got back.  
“I sexually harassed an alien robot.” Jen said blankly chugging what was left in her glass.


End file.
